The Blacksmith's Secret

"It's not that..."

"If it's not that, then what is it? Do you want to change your class to something from the Archisus Church? There's no such thing, so just beat it."

"It's not that either..."

The voice was hesitant and completely lacked confidence, sounding as if the speaker had committed some grave crime against Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun raised his head to see who it was. Who could possibly be acting like this?

"..."

Gu Sung-wook avoided his gaze. However, there was absolutely no reason for him to do so. Why? Because Tae-hyun didn't even recognize him at first!

"Who are you?"

"...I'm Gu Sung-wook."

"Gu Sung-wook... Who was that again?"

"The, uh, Cold Cry's Sword..."

"Ah! *That* Gu Sung-wook!"

Tae-hyun clapped his hands in delight. Seeing this, Gu Sung-wook was slightly taken aback. Was Tae-hyun actually welcoming him? Now that he thought about it, they had met back in the Salz Kingdom and had even fought together against Marquis Marden. Although he had joined hands with Smith to oppose Tae-hyun, he hadn't directly attacked him, so maybe Tae-hyun could let that slide...

"The Gu Sung-wook who teamed up with Smith to attack me! Right?"

"..."

Nope. He wasn't letting it slide.

"Yes... that's right... I deserve to be executed..."

"Hey, don't be like that. Anyone can launch an attack! There are no eternal friends or eternal enemies in Fantasy Online, right? Of course, my wounds from Smith still ache whenever it rains, though."

Of course, no such wounds existed. The one whose wounds from Fantasy Online 1 actually ached was Smith! In the first place, Tae-hyun hadn't even taken much damage from Smith.

'The ones who beat you up were the Orc Great Chieftain and his shamans...!'

Of course, Gu Sung-wook had to swallow those words.

'Sob... Lord Smith... You were wrong...'

Gu Sung-wook recalled his conversation with Smith.

"I've made up my mind. I'm going to find Kim Tae-hyun and ask him for a favor."

"You've made the right choice!"

Smith rejoiced as if it were his own business. But Gu Sung-wook couldn't share the joy, because he knew Tae-hyun's personality all too well!

'There's no way he'll just give it to me for free...'

Sensing Gu Sung-wook's worry, Smith spoke up.

"It's fine. Mr. Kim Tae-hyun is not the type of person to hold a grudge over something like that."

Smith was judging others by his own standards!

"If you're really anxious, I'll go with you and apologize. After all, you guys were only acting under my lead..."

"A-Ah, no! It's fine."

Gu Sung-wook turned pale and stopped Smith. He couldn't drag Smith, who had already helped him so much, into this. Going together would only double the suffering! He had to overcome this on his own.

"Aigoo! My wounds are aching!"

"..."

"My wounds are aching, and you're not going to say anything? Wow, look at how cold-blooded you are."

"T-That's not it..."

"Cain, look at this guy. He beat me up, and now he's just standing there with a straight face!"

Even Cain turned his head away at such shamelessness! After throwing a fit, Tae-hyun straightened his posture.

"Alright. Jokes aside."

'That was a joke?!' Gu Sung-wook screamed internally. It felt like every time he met Tae-hyun, the list of things he had to swallow grew longer.

"You tried to raid me with Smith..."

"..."

Tae-hyun wasn't going to let it slide after all.

"...and yet you came all this way. Obviously, you want something. You didn't just come to apologize, did you? Or did you really just come to apologize? With absolutely no strings attached? If that's the case, I might find it in my generous heart to forgive you."

"Well, it's not that..."

"I knew it! You came here wanting something. Cain, look. See what a bad person he is?"

'You're the one who looks like a villain, you bastard...'

"What do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want?"

Gu Sung-wook let out a deep sigh and confessed what he needed. After hearing the whole story, even Tae-hyun looked dumbfounded.

"What kind of sword is it that makes it so damn hard to craft?"

Gu Sung-wook agreed one hundred percent!

"Pelmas, can I make that blessed steel?"

"It should be among the things you can do as the Pope."

Tae-hyun checked his status window. Since there were so many things he could do as the Pope of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠church, it was hard to find it at first.

"Ah, here it is. 'Bestow Blessing on Item.' It requires holy water, advanced magic stones, and some other miscellaneous stuff. But nothing impossible to get."

Having finished his check, Tae-hyun smiled and asked Gu Sung-wook, "So, what can our dear Mr. Gu Sung-wook do for me in exchange?"

"Wow, the Black Rock Guild! What incredible friendship! I'm touched, truly touched!"

"..."

The members of the Black Rock Guild stood beside Tae-hyun with rotting expressions. Tae-hyun's words didn't sound like a compliment at all!

Seeing Tae-hyun's personality in person made it crystal clear! Tae-hyun, seizing the perfect opportunity, had requested the Black Rock Guild's support for this church quest. Not just Gu Sung-wook alone, but at least a full party's worth of support! The guild members, knowing how much Gu Sung-wook had been suffering mentally, sighed and came out to support him.

In truth, although Tae-hyun's words sounded sarcastic, they were actually sincere. It was rare for a guild to have all its members come out to help just because one member was struggling. This was only possible because the Black Rock Guild was a small, tight-knit group bound by strong friendship!

"Well, since everyone's here, should I make it and give it to you now?"

"?!?!!"

Gu Sung-wook was startled. Tae-hyun was offering to pay the reward upfront? Sensing Gu Sung-wook's shock, Tae-hyun said, "What's that face? Did you just think 'no way' in your head? Now my feelings are hurt."

"A-Ah, no! Not at all! I was just so happy!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

Listening to the conversation between Gu Sung-wook and Tae-hyun, the guild members felt their illusions shattering. Was *the* Kim Tae-hyun really this kind of person? Until now, even when Gu Sung-wook cursed Tae-hyun, the guild members had thought, 'No way, someone who looked so cool on stream...' But now, they were finally facing reality.

'Is it Intermediate level 7 now?'

Reaching level 7 in Intermediate Blacksmithing with a non-blacksmith class was an incredible feat in itself, but Tae-hyun was not satisfied. He wanted to raise his core skills—Blacksmithing, Engineering, and Swordsmanship—to Advanced!

Anyone else would have called it a crazy idea, but with Tae-hyun's grit, persistence, and his class characteristics, it wasn't impossible.

Clang, clang, clang—

Watching Tae-hyun strike with his hammer, Phil, the main blacksmith of the Black Rock Guild, was truly shocked.

'He's really not a blacksmith?'

No matter how he looked at it, that stable posture could only come from someone who had played nothing but the blacksmith class! To have such form and not be a blacksmith... other blacksmith players would weep tears of jealousy if they saw this.

Actually, Phil didn't really need to join the Black Rock Guild's support party. While having a blacksmith in the party was nice, the Black Rock Guild wouldn't normally want to send their main blacksmith on a quest support ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠run. Phil had followed for one reason: curiosity about Tae-hyun.

'No. Kim Tae-hyun is definitely a blacksmith!'

Phil had a theory about Tae-hyun's class. A theory he believed had a very high probability! To turn that theory into a certainty, he needed to verify it.

"Aren't you standing a bit too close?"

"...!"

Only then did Phil snap out of it. He had leaned in too close while watching.

"I don't mind you watching since it's not like you can steal my skills just by looking, but..."

"Is your class really not a blacksmith?"

"Mister, you shouldn't try to pry into someone else's class so easily. If I wanted to tell you, wouldn't I have already revealed it on stream?"

Tae-hyun brushed off Phil's question lightly. Phil realized his mistake and blushed.

"T-That's true."

"You look like a blacksmith yourself, so why did you tag along with the party?"

"You're not looking down on blacksmiths, are you? Even a blacksmith of my caliber knows that you can't just ignore the skills."

"Of course I know that."

From Tae-hyun's reaction, Phil felt that Tae-hyun knew quite a lot about the blacksmith class. It wasn't a feeling of having seen or heard about it somewhere, but rather something gained through direct experience!

"Normally, if you're the main blacksmith of a guild, you don't need to tag along with parties like this, do you? If you came anyway, it means you either like going out to the fields with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a party, or..." Tae-hyun finished hammering and said, "...you have another reason?"

"A-Another reason? What do you mean?"

"You were watching me hammer very closely. I get that you're curious, but you won't get anything out of watching me."

Tae-hyun was speaking sincerely. There had already been several blacksmiths who followed him around because they misunderstood him. Of course, they had benefited immensely, but strictly speaking, it wasn't because Tae-hyun possessed some secret of the blacksmith class. However, Phil heard it differently.

'Just how incredible of a secret is he hiding to say something like that?!'

Because Tae-hyun had shown such a twisted, manipulative side so often, even sincere words like this were interpreted in the exact opposite way!

'It's certain. He's hiding something. What he's doing right now might be a clue.'

Even though Tae-hyun had shown consideration without much thought, Phil overthought it and twisted it in his head.

"Here's the steel. Go ahead and make the Cold Cry's Sword. I'm curious to see what kind of item it is, too."

"Ugh... *sniff*...!"

"?!"

When Gu Sung-wook took the steel and started tearing up, Tae-hyun was flustered. What was wrong with this guy?

"Finally... truly, finally...!"

"..."

Tae-hyun actually felt a little bit guilty seeing this. Just how much mental suffering had he gone through...?

"Hurry up and make it."

'That way, I can work you to the bone during the quest without feeling guilty.'

The reason Tae-hyun had crafted the steel for him beforehand was simple. The upcoming quest looked like it would be incredibly difficult! No matter what kind of item this sword was, after putting someone through so much grind, there was no way it would have average performance.

"Phil! I've gathered all the materials here!"

"Hmm... why don't you ask Kim Tae-hyun to craft it?"

"What?!"

Gu Sung-wook looked as if the sky had fallen. After what he had just suffered at Tae-hyun's hands, what on earth did that mean?

"No, no. I'm not trying to torment you. I just have something I want to test."

Soothed by Phil, Gu Sung-wook listened to his explanation.

If he could directly watch Tae-hyun craft the same item, Phil might be able to uncover some hidden secret using his blacksmith-related skills! Phil's Blacksmithing skill was by no means low, and he had quite a rich array of related skills. Among them were skills to analyze an item's performance or to evaluate another's blacksmithing skills. His scheme was to observe closely while Tae-hyun crafted to figure something out!

'Kim Tae-hyun won't know I have these kinds of skills!'

Gu Sung-wook made a face of deep reluctance several times at Phil's words, but in the end, he gave up and went to ask Tae-hyun.

"Sure, I can do that much."

"?!"

Tae-hyun readily agreed. Since they were providing all the materials, there was no reason to refuse. Besides, crafting such an item would increase his Blacksmithing skill. Phil was so curious about Tae-hyun's secret that he was willing to risk making a request, but Tae-hyun truly had nothing to hide. It was just Blacksmithing Skill + High Luck + Avatar of Archisus class skill bonuses! Watching from the side wouldn't make any hidden skills pop up.

'I'm watching! There's got to be something! I'll see it with my own eyes!'

Of course, there was nothing.